Hey, Brad Bird, you've just been nominated for an Oscar! Where are you going?

"We're in Utah," the Corvallis-bred director said Tuesday afternoon, fresh off a plane and heading for the Sundance Film Festival. Though the aircraft had landed, Bird's spirits were still flying high. The filmmaker was absorbing the news that "Ratatouille," his hit movie about a Parisian rat with mad gourmet skills, had cooked up five Oscar nominations: best animated feature, original screenplay, musical score, sound editing and sound mixing.

"It's really wonderful to get so many nominations when we came out in what the Academy would consider to be earlier in the year," Bird said. One of the most respected animated filmmakers in the business, Bird won the 2005 best animated feature Oscar when he was honored for "The Incredibles."

But don't think for a minute that Bird is low-key about the Oscar love for "Ratatouille." "You don't get too blase about the Oscars," Bird said with a laugh. "I'm just so happy I have a chance to work. To have films do well both critically and financially is really icing. And icing on the icing are any awards you get."

On Oscar nomination morning, Bird was surprised that another Oregon boy, Matt Groening, hadn't won a nomination for "The Simpsons Movie." Before moving into features, Bird worked for several years on "The Simpsons" TV series.

Bird believes that growing up in the Northwest breeds a distinct perspective. "There's something about a lot of space and wetness that kind of creates a sense of humor," he says. "It's the sense of humor I have, and Matt, and Gary Larson. There's a little bit of darkness to it, but it isn't pessimistic."

And speaking of pessimism: Bird is hopeful that the strike by the Writers Guild -- of which he's a member -- will be settled in time to allow the traditional Oscar ceremony. "If you take a look at the films that I've made, they all seem to find their way to a happy ending, so that's where my head is at."

Bird has reason to be optimistic about winning if other Academy members share Joan Gratz's feelings. The Portland animator, herself a 1992 Oscar-winner for her short film, "Mona Lisa Descending a Staircase," calls "Ratatouille" "just about the most charming and well-done animated film I've ever seen. I loved the story, I loved the fact that it was actually about something you could identify with -- eating, and wanting to do something great."

The other two nominated features are "Persepolis," an adaptation of Marjane Satrapi's graphic novel about coming of age in Iran during the Islamic revolution there, and "Surf's Up," a mockumentary about a penguin surfing championship, which, like "Ratatouille," was done in computer-generated animation style.

Support for "Ratatouille" and "Persepolis" is divided in other quarters of our animation city.

Fellow Portland Oscar-winner Will Vinton (the 1974 short, "Closed Mondays"), hasn't yet seen "Persepolis." Vinton considered "Surf's Up" "pretty good," but adds, "'Ratatouille' was one of the best films I've seen in years, live-action, animated, any kind. I'm just completely biased, and a complete fan."

Joanna Priestley hasn't won an Oscar but has been an Academy member for about 18 years. The Portland animator also hasn't seen "Surf's Up" and is most excited about "Persepolis."

"It's wonderful to see an animated feature film that's a woman's life story," Priestley says. "It has these little emotional moments, little events in somebody's life that you can identify with, and it also covers Iranian history."

Of "Ratatouille," Priestley says, "I thought it had great animation, but structurally, I thought it was a mess." Bird took over "Ratatouille" after Jan Pinkava, who conceived the film, was removed from the project. "It doesn't have the elegance of a normal Brad Bird film," says Priestley. "It isn't completely cohesive and every single moment important."

Tom Knott, now a recruiter at Laika animation studio, used to run the Ottawa International Animation Festival, the largest such event in North America. He's conflicted about this year's nominees.

"I have to admit I have not seen 'Surf's Up,'" says Knott. "'Ratatouille' has some of the best animation to appear in decades, and Brad did a great job telling a story. He's a friend of mine. But personally, I'd like to see 'Persepolis' win just because it's an independent film, and it's lower-budget. I think it gives hope to other filmmakers trying to do things on lower budgets that are more personal. So if something like 'Persepolis' can find an audience, that's good."